Yet he clearly had the respect of the Akenbergers, and she supposed that was reason enough to let him speak. Those who were standing, including her and Toby, returned to their seats. Another chair was offered to the newcomer.
He refused the offer, choosing to remain standing, waiting for everyone’s attentions to focus on him. A natural leader, it seemed. She wished her brother could have half so much confidence.
Then Earththane Jak spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words. Head high and back straight, if he felt deference for the lofty station of those he addressed, this former thrall showed no sign of it.
“I wish you all to ignore my appearance and listen instead to my words. I’ve ridden, without stop, for more than a day. By necessity, I surrendered some of my strength to my weary mount, and before that much more in battle with a devil.”
He paused, feeling the skepticism growing through the room. “I understand that most of you are unfamiliar with my person, my experience, my responsibility. There is time for that later. I ask again only that you listen to my words, judge them and not the speaker, and you will know their truth. What you decide to do with that truth is your own task.
“If we had the time, I would speak of false gods. For the gods you know are indeed false. I know your resistance, for I have felt it, too. And I know the difficult road ahead.
“The empire is experiencing the greatest upheaval it has ever faced. I surprise no one by admitting that many will fall in the years ahead, including some of us in this chamber. And no one will be unaffected.
“But this is a time when our greatest leaders will rise to the occasion, when new heroes will spring forth from all corners of the land, when new gods will emerge to displace those that have failed.”
He pointed up, to the high ceiling, and beyond. “You know this already, for you see a new star has joined our world. It has augured a new beginning, a reason to hope.
“If you look closely, you will see that star is the point of a sword. A thane’s sword. A king’s sword.
“Many of you mourn the death of King Nicolas. But you need not, for he has taken his place in the heavens, where it is better for him to look down and guide us from above.”
“What are you saying?” Captain Mickens asked.
“He’s saying Nico’s become a god,” Toby said.
The Earththane stared at them. “He is the first of many. The empire is changing, and so too are the heavens. The fight is not only on the battlefields below, but also in the skies above.
“This age will bestow more gods before it ends, for good or ill. We will see more champions rise, and more fall. And we must honor them, and follow their example as well as mortals are capable, if we are to survive.”
He reached into a pocket and drew out an object, then tossed it onto the table.
It was a black stone, coarse and misshapen, the size of a large man’s fist. There seemed to be nothing exceptional about it, at least not for a few seconds. Then it began to move within itself, as though the rock were not solid after all. A few flecks of black dust radiated from the surface as it took on a new, equally malformed pattern.
Then the smell hit them, and every woman and man at the table recoiled in disgust.
“This stone is the flesh of a devil. Or rather, all that’s left of the one my companions and I destroyed. The devil Ithicus…the being you know as Orkus, god of wisdom…is dead.”
Taking a deep breath, Jak finished his lecture. “I have told you all I can right now, passed what knowledge I have gained thus far. What you choose to do with it, as I say, is your own task. My journey continues, for there are many more devils to fight.
“I will say only that I am glad to have Nicolas’ aid in this battle. He ascended as I fought Ithicus, though I knew not at the time what was happening. I am in his debt, and I choose to honor him.”
“So do I,” Toby said. He smiled, for once appearing undisturbed by the stares of kinsmen and guests alike.
Leti looked around the chamber. Most of the faces were unreadable, some blank, others angry, and a few crying. It would take time for hearts and minds to reconcile.
Hers, too. If she chose to give them time.
It was well past midnight when she returned at last to her bedroom.
There were still many things to work out between the two kingdoms, but at least progress had been made. The wheel had been started, and she could withdraw safe in the knowledge that it would go on turning without her involvement.
Leti walked out to the balcony and placed her hands once more upon the rough stone of the railing. They no longer trembled, just as her muscles no longer felt the weakness of before. Instead, a strange calm unlike any she had ever known filled her entire being, body and soul.
She still worried desperately for her brother, and whatever challenge he was likely to face from Jacinto.
So, too, did she worry for the empire entire, for there were other, terrible conflicts raging out there, well beyond the sight of her beautiful homeland. Her people would soon be caught up in those storms, as well.
She stared down at the patio below.
The ravages of war would get worse before they would get better. She wondered how anyone could suffer them and go on with their lives.
Then she stared upwards, to the cloudless night sky. To the stars, and one in particular.
That’s how.
Her brother had already made his decision. The others would need to give it more thought. Some would reject Earththane Jak’s words, and some would accept. He offered hope, but hope was often more elusive than it ought to be.
In her mind, Leti did not know whether it was possible for a man to become a god. But her heart knew.
She worried about many things, but she did not fear. For no matter what happened down here, she could look up and know he was watching.
Always.
Pulling her hands back from the railing, Leti moved to the settee. From there, all one could see was the sky, and that was the way she preferred things.
She did not need to stare at the stars for these last few hours of night. But she did so anyway.
THE END
…OF THE BEGINNING
EMPIRE UNVEILED
The Complete Sourcebook for the World of Empire Asunder
The Culture of the Twelve Kingdoms
Social Structure
Most of Imperial society can be broken into three classes: nobility, commoners, and thralls. In general, any landholders are considered part of the nobility, with a title corresponding to the size of the estate or the number of lesser nobles who swear fealty. This fealty is often feudal in nature, whereby a lower lord exchanges the promise of loyalty and aid to their superior for the gift of property, power, or security. The system is frequently upset when a lower lord violates the agreement, usually by refusing to send aid (food, money, or military) when requested or by staking a claim to more land than originally gifted. Some lords will even claim to be better suited to fulfill their superior’s role in the hierarchy, thus initiating a power struggle.
With few exceptions, the property lived in and worked by farmers, artisans, and city-dwellers of all kinds is technically owned by a higher rank and occupied at their discretion. In reality, few lords would risk tossing a tenant out of their property for fear of upsetting the system, and most inhabitants spend their lives thinking of their home as their own.
There are many ranks within the nobility. The most common are:
Emperor - the highest authority in the Empire, rules loosely over all twelve kingdoms
King or Queen - ruler of a kingdom/province, swears fealty to the Emperor, but largely free to rule their own territory without restraint
Duke - ruler of a duchy within a kingdom, swears fealty to a king or queen
Baron (Hern in Akenberg and Gothenberg) - ruler of a barony within a kingdom, swears fealty to a duke or king
Count (Landgrave in Akenberg and Gothenberg) - ruler over two or more lords, swears fealty to a baro
n, duke, or king
Lord - landed gentry with Imperial holdings, usually an estate with a castle and one or more villages
Thralls are servants or workers whose lives are restricted from certain freedoms, tied either to a person or property and obligated to spend their life’s work in single-minded dedication. The foundation of this service is usually, but not always, a result of indebtedness. A common example is that a family finds itself unable to feed and clothe every member without assistance, and offers one child as a thrall in exchange for the benevolence of neighbor or lord. Servitude is not required to end at a single generation, though many masters choose to free their thralls as a reward for years of loyal service.
The most common types of thralls are housethralls and fieldthralls. Housethralls belong to a noble or other privileged family, while fieldthralls work the countless farms throughout the twelve kingdoms.
Everyone else not falling into the nobility or class of thralls is a commoner. Commoners fill all the myriad roles of civilization other than ruling and the most menial forms of labor. They include soldiers, sailors, merchants, messengers, artisans, apprentices, farmers, brewers, bureaucrats, constables, clergy, entertainers of every kind, and so on.
Note that the one exception to these societal rules is Yoshini, where there are only two classes: a warrior caste (the Rinjin), a proud melding of nobility and military; and everyone else, including clergy, merchants, artisans, free laborers, and—by far the largest group—the peasantry.
In Yoshini, fighting is both a way of life and an art form. The various families and fighting schools comprising the Rinjin incessantly vie for power and influence. The top of this fluid chaos is the Dimjin, a sort of warrior-king that fills the role of king only to the extent that he is able to enforce his will on others. The title is a prestigious honor few keep for long.
Etiquette
As much to mark a clear division between the nobility and lower classes, a complex system of etiquette was developed by the former. This etiquette takes many forms, spoken and unspoken. As such, those associated with a king’s court—from the ruler himself (or herself) down to the courtiers and attendants—can easily detect a commoner or pretender within moments.
The most common distinction between formal and informal speech occurs in simple everyday phrases. “Yes,” “no,” and “your pardons,” fill the halls of palace and castle, whereas “aye,” “nay,” and “your pardon,” are spoken everywhere else.
The Order of Swordthanes
Thanks primarily to the overwhelming success of Emperor Eberhart, the Order of Swordthanes has grown from a fringe organization to a well-respected body of the empire’s finest warriors. Embodying the tenets of honor, discipline, courage, and relentless competition, the Order bestows a rank and prestige many aspire to but few achieve. Because the Order places achievement ahead of social class, members routinely receive the admiration of nobles, commoners, and thralls.
Life in the Order is illustrious, but oftentimes brief. The hierarchy is maintained through frequent duels between thanes, and these duels normally end with the death of one competitor. Likewise, because only a set number of thanes are allowed at any given time, membership in the Order is only attained through a duel with an existing member. These fights, called Provings, also frequently end in death.
Yet these deaths suit the Swordthanes well, for the basic belief that a glorious end at the blade of a worthy opponent is the most fitting fate of all.
The Order is structured into four levels:
The First of Swords, the singular head of the Order and Patron to the Seconds
Two Seconds, swearing allegiance to the First, each Patron to three Thirds
Six Thirds, three swearing allegiance to each Second, each Patron to three Swordthanes
Eighteen Swordthanes, three swearing allegiance to each Third
The Order of Swordthanes does not have an official role within Imperial politics, but since Eberhart was both the First of Swords and Emperor, the Order has taken on an added responsibility of protecting the empire. Not all noble houses and king’s courts are pleased with the interference, however.
The Harpa
The harpa are a minority people who live inside the empire, but are not full citizens of it. A matriarchal society who place women above men, they are legally proscribed from owning land or possessing weapons. Without permanent homes, they wander between settlements, performing much of the inter-provincial trade of the empire. Distrusted by most Imperials, they are often stigmatized as lawless thieves with low virtue and bestial appetites.
As are most stereotypes, these characterizations are a perversion of reality. Originally ostracized for not accepting the same gods and belief system as others, hostility toward the harpa grew in proportion to their wealth. As trade routes enhanced their material assets, the harpa began also functioning as moneylenders to Imperial merchants, nobles, and even rulers—generating even more resentment in the process.
As a convenience to Imperials, the wealthiest harpa families have semi-permanent homes in the great cities, though they are not officially allowed to own those houses. Most harpa, however, are members of the wide-ranging caravans that carry goods back and forth from city to city, town to town, seldom remaining in one place for long.
Life on the road is not all hardship, however, for the harpa have developed a rich and fulfilling culture filled with song and dance, and a philosophy toward existence that believes in mutual appreciation and making the best of life’s many blessings. It is a culture that many Imperials, once exposed, feel inexorably drawn to…
Military
Organization
Even in times of peace—which are few and far between in the violent world of the empire—the military plays a prominent role in society. Each kingdom maintains its own army, divided into infantry, cavalry, and support troops. Soldiers are generally well respected by the masses, and the ranks are filled by nobles as well as commoners. As they are tied to their service, it is rare for thralls to enter the military. The lone exception is in Akenberg, where military tradition runs the strongest of all the kingdoms, and where the most capable thralls are sometimes invited to join the branch that best suits them.
The vast majority of soldiers serve in the infantry. Anyone capable of the physical ordeal of soldiering can join, for all equipment and training is provided by the army. A soldier technically owns neither their weapon nor armor, though for all practical purposes these things are kept for life, even after retirement or demobilization.
The infantry is further divided into melee and missile troops. The latter are generally armed with crossbow or longbow, lightly armored, and expected to withdraw rather than engage in close combat. Melee troops employ a wide range of weapons, including spears or pikes, swords of various lengths and weights, maces, axes, and anything else that can be used to kill or maim. The most skilled—or luckiest—also employ shields, which can be seen as a useful distinction between troops of value versus those considered disposable.
The sons and daughters of nobility, of farmers who can spare a horse, or of any other commoner with sufficient resources to procure one, usually enter the cavalry branch. This is the most prestigious branch of the military in most places, and is tasked with everything from scouting and reconnaissance outside battle to the heaviest fighting inside. A cavalryman or woman is called a trooper.
Two kingdoms use cavalry in a unique way. The bountiful grasslands of Buldova provide that province with an abundance of excess horses, even beyond those sold to other kingdoms. Thus, the Buldovan army issues horses to many of its missile troops, known as horse archers or horse crossbowmen. Loresters, on the other hand, value horses so highly that they favor keeping them out of battle as much as possible. Approximately half of the cavalry of Lorester are dragoons, who ride to and from battle but dismount and fight as infantry.
Ranks
There are two types of ranks in the Imperial military: officer ranks, and recruit ranks. Depending
on the particular tradition of each kingdom, movement between the recruit and officer ranks ranges anywhere from fluid to nonexistent.
Officer Ranks:
General - commands an army, reports to the king
Commander - commands a regiment or detachment, reports to a general
Captain - commands a company, reports to a commander
Recruit Ranks:
Corporal - recruit in command of a squad, reports to a captain
Private - recruit, reports to a corporal
Soldiers are grouped into units, based on the Imperial practice of counting in tens. Ten privates plus a corporal form an infantry squad or cavalry squadron. Four squads led by a captain form an infantry company, while three squadrons plus a captain form a cavalry company. Groups of eight or more companies are sometimes formed into a battalion, but often that grouping is bypassed entirely and groups of companies are simply assigned directly to an army. Thus, in a farce of nomenclature, a kingdom’s army is divided into one or more armies, each commanded by a general. Most generals report directly to their kingdom’s ruler, though in Akenberg they funnel through a centralized military headquarters known as the Rechshtal.
Militias
Professional armies are the backbone of the military, but certain locales such as cities or border towns commonly maintain a militia. These are volunteer men and women who train in their spare time, and fight only during emergencies.
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